On Friday, October 13th, Journalism students took a trip to Southern Connecticut State University for Journalism Day.
SCSU provided students with the opportunity to explore 23 different workshops. Students chose 2 workshops to attend. Some of these workshops included SnapCRAP, Fake News, and Journalism Ethics: “Do You Believe Truth Exists?”. Each workshop was taught by 1 or more professors at Southern.
Sophomore Avery Vece experienced the workshop: Journalism Ethics: “Do You Believe Truth Exists?”. Avery said “In this workshop, I learned that if you want to get the truth to report someone’s story then there are certain steps to do so, questioning them on where, when, or what happened is a very important step that will open up the truth.” These sessions provided valuable information that will allow students to strengthen their reporting skills. Senior Riley Schmidt attended the workshop: “Sports Journalism Today”. In the workshop Riley stated “I learned that when writing a story one should not pick favorites on a topic, and to do the job the way it should be done.”. This workshop provided students with the knowledge of how they should report. This taught students that regardless of the bias you have as a journalist you need to do the job that was put right in front of you.
After attending the 2 workshops, students attended a keynote speech by CT News Junkie editor-in-chief Christine Stuart. While Christine Stuart has been at CT News Junkie the site’s influence has grown steadily, averaging around 193,000 page views per month over the past year. Some of her most memorable stories include “Connecticut Hospitals Grapple with Severe Financial Challenges, OHS Report Reveals” and “Connecticut Sees Notable Reduction in Crime Rates in 2022“. Stuart shared stories about how she started as an intern at the Hartford Courant and worked her way up the journalism ladder. She revealed that she purchased CT News Junkies for one dollar. Eventually she made a profit. Christine explained how she didn’t always want to be a journalist but found her love for it through her younger years. She shared some of the difficulties she experienced as a journalist. Sophomore Lena Flaherty said that it was very interesting to hear about her experience working with journalism.
The workshops at SCSU were a great experience for students to learn and experience journalism with experts. We are grateful for the experience we were granted, and hope that we can return for years to come.
